Tips that have helped Johnny and I!

Epi4Dogs Foundation Inc.’s mission is the advancement of science and education relating to EPI (Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency), yielding useful insights and positive outcomes in better managing EPI in dogs and cats. Our goals are to support and/or collaborate with veterinary EPI research and researchers, and to promote EPI awareness by educating the general public, pet owners, pet organizations, rescue and shelter organizations, veterinary schools and veterinarians.
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Johnnycake
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Posts: 51
Country: United States
State: Texas
Pet name: Johnny
My name: MacKenzie

Tips that have helped Johnny and I!

Post by Johnnycake » 30 Mar 2022, 17:43

Hey! I hope this is okay to post here. Johnny has been doing really well ever since stabilizing, but up until the past 3.5-4 months he was still having periodic flares of SID and his poop was good, but not great - mushy and often very yellow in color. We've made some changes to our EPI protocol and it's been like magic - perfect poop for months now, no gas, no stinky poop, he has so much energy and he's able to eat lots of treats throughout the day (he's my service dog and this has been really important to me, I hate not being able to reward him for working throughout the day).

I figured I would post what has worked for us on the off chance it might help someone else! Johnny just needed a little extra and maybe some of this could help other EPI dogs too.

***Powdered clay supplement - this has been the biggest help by far! I saw immediate results when I started adding this to every meal, after observing that eating clay and dirt at our local park always made Johnny's poops much better. I think he will probably be on this for life now. Here are the two we have tried if anyone wants a better idea what I am talking about!

[url]https://www.amazon.com/Rx-Vitamins-Pets ... sr=8-2/url]
[url]https://www.amazon.com/Bentonite-Detoxi ... sr=8-6/url]

***Goat's milk! Like the clay this has been a game changer for us. Goat's milk at every meal has helped so much, and it also really helps encourage Johnny to eat all his food, he absolutely loves it. I have used both refrigerated and powdered but have stuck with the powdered as it has ended up being more cost effective for us. This is another addition I imagine will be permanent for us.

*** Bil Jac Kibble - I know it is not needed for all dogs but Johnny doesn't seem to digest fat super well and so I put him on a reduced fat formula, but this brand in general has been super digestible for him and he seems to feel really good while he has been on it. It is also super palatable, though it does kind of turn to mush when mixed up with water and enzymes. We tried soooo many foods, including all the commonly recommended ones, but by far have had the most success with this one.

[url]https://www.bil-jac.com/products/reduce ... a-dog-food

Lately we have also started adding in a very small amount of turmeric, as well as some coconut oil and powdered pumpkin. Not 100% sure of the effect yet but there at least have been no negative changes.

Anyways, a little random I know but a couple of natural/non-medication suggestions! I really appreciate all the help I've received here and I hope this can help someone else too! Johnny lives a very active lifestyle as a working dog, and on this regiment he has been able to have treats, chews, and perfect poops all in one!

(P.S. all this has been okay-ed by his vet :) )

Tuckaboo Pam
Member
Posts: 1345
Country: United States
State: Florida
Pet name: Tucker
My name: Pam H.

Re: Tips that have helped Johnny and I!

Post by Tuckaboo Pam » 30 Mar 2022, 19:16

So nice of you to share! Is the clay in powder form? I have some Aztec Healing Clay. I wonder if that would work. Thanks---Pam
Tucker was a shepherd/lab mix--- TLI 1.3, Folate 9.7, Cobalamin 666, Lipase 38. Took Diane's Enzymes 4 teaspoons/day, Wonderlabs B12 one capsule per day, and Tylan 1/16 teaspoon/ morning (to hold SID at bay). Taste of the Wild High Prairie, 1 1/2 cups/day, with a total of 4 cups of Fresh Pet. Stopped eating everything in sight, and went from 60 to 85 pounds! Tucker was my boyfriend, and my husband was OK with that. Tucker succumbed to hemangiosarcoma, but we cherished every day we had with that wonderful, beautiful boy. I will always, always miss my sweet big boy.

maya193
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Posts: 77
Country: United States
State: Rhode Island
Pet name: Maya
My name: Debbie

Re: Tips that have helped Johnny and I!

Post by maya193 » 31 Mar 2022, 11:10

thank you so much! i am going to try the clay!
Maya is a belgian mal/german shep diagnosed with EPI on 10/12/21. TLI 1.2, B-12 196, Folate 4.8. Currently on Maximum K-9 raw diet, beef and vegetable, Enzyme Diane, Wonderlabs B-12 with IF, Proviable and Slippery Elm.

Tuckaboo Pam
Member
Posts: 1345
Country: United States
State: Florida
Pet name: Tucker
My name: Pam H.

Re: Tips that have helped Johnny and I!

Post by Tuckaboo Pam » 31 Mar 2022, 11:19

One question, though---Does clay, with its drawing out properties, maybe inhibit the absorption of enzymes? Or is that the exact opposite idea?
Tucker was a shepherd/lab mix--- TLI 1.3, Folate 9.7, Cobalamin 666, Lipase 38. Took Diane's Enzymes 4 teaspoons/day, Wonderlabs B12 one capsule per day, and Tylan 1/16 teaspoon/ morning (to hold SID at bay). Taste of the Wild High Prairie, 1 1/2 cups/day, with a total of 4 cups of Fresh Pet. Stopped eating everything in sight, and went from 60 to 85 pounds! Tucker was my boyfriend, and my husband was OK with that. Tucker succumbed to hemangiosarcoma, but we cherished every day we had with that wonderful, beautiful boy. I will always, always miss my sweet big boy.

maya193
Member
Posts: 77
Country: United States
State: Rhode Island
Pet name: Maya
My name: Debbie

Re: Tips that have helped Johnny and I!

Post by maya193 » 25 Apr 2022, 10:48

I just wanted to post an update:::: The clay truly has been a game-changer! I did a little PubMed search and there is so much info on the use of clay. Wow, I had no idea. I've been using it for a week and what an incredible difference it has made. Finally amazing poos! Maya gets three meals a day and I use the clay supplement during meals 1 and 3 and give her the probiotic during meal 2 and it's worked beautifully.
Maya is a belgian mal/german shep diagnosed with EPI on 10/12/21. TLI 1.2, B-12 196, Folate 4.8. Currently on Maximum K-9 raw diet, beef and vegetable, Enzyme Diane, Wonderlabs B-12 with IF, Proviable and Slippery Elm.

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jilbert57
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Posts: 2088
Country: United States
State: Washington

Re: Tips that have helped Johnny and I!

Post by jilbert57 » 25 Apr 2022, 10:59

Debbie, thank you for the great update. Good poops are awesome!

Jill
My name is Jill and we live on the Hood Canal in Washington State. We currently have 2 Jack russells, TJ is 8 and Sadie is 2.

Mickey and his pancreatitis brought me to Epi4dogs.com site in 2012 to help manage it.
He lived from 6/99 - 8/2014

Mickey, Jack Russell. Chronic Pancreatitis. Dianes enzymes, 1/8t 3x/day with meals.

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Fuzzysmom
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Posts: 15
Country: United States
State: Texas
Pet name: Fuzzy
My name: Melanie

Re: Tips that have helped Johnny and I!

Post by Fuzzysmom » 29 Apr 2022, 15:15

I'm glad Johnny is doing better.

Interesting about the clay. When Fuzzy didn't respond to added "milk" based pro/pre biotics I gave him the Four leaf Rover soil based on another Epi dog owners' advice. It has the
Montmorillonite clay in it. It helped him get past a very bad SID flair along with Slippery elm. I've switched to Prescript Assist pro - biotic now but I do toss in a 1 tsp of clay a few times a week.

Fuzzy also does really well on the Bil Jac but he eats the Sensitive Solutions Dry Dog Food - Digestive & Immune Support version. He did not do well on any kibble with legumes. Bil Jac was the only kibble he was enthusiastic about eating, coming from strictly raw fed. It also digests well mixed with raw where the extruded I had to feed separately

To some of the other questions I haven't noticed the clay inhibiting absorption of the enzymes. You do want to use plastic utensil to measure it. Metal can negatively affect the "healing" properties of the clay.
Fuzzy is a Boerboel dob 8/29/19 diagnosed by TLI 1/5/22 Ideal weight 175lbs + Still growing so he's fed to lean body condition for growth. After regulation enzyme amt. went from 1 tsp a cup>1 1/2 tsp per meal> NOW 1/2 tsp per meal!

1st meal: 2 cups Inukshuk Marine 25 2 cup raw blend(tripe,organs,beef) 1/2 tsp Pantennex 2 B12,
2nd : 1 cup Inukshuk Marine 25 , 1cup raw 1/2 tsp Pantennex

He is completely off the slippery elm maintenance amt (1/8 tsp)although I keep on hand in case of sibo. 2 Prescript Assist Soil based probiotics every 4 days

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Johnnycake
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Posts: 51
Country: United States
State: Texas
Pet name: Johnny
My name: MacKenzie

Re: Tips that have helped Johnny and I!

Post by Johnnycake » 07 May 2022, 08:03

I’m really glad it has been helping out! Sometimes they know what they need better than we do… I never would have known about the clay if he hadn’t been eating it at the park!

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Olesia711
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Posts: 3857
Location: North Carolina
Country: United States
State: North Carolina
Pet name: Izzy
My name: olesia

Re: Tips that have helped Johnny and I!

Post by Olesia711 » 10 May 2022, 12:44

what a great thread... lots of good info... thanks everyone.

I am particularly pleased that the topic of clay came up.... in the past, this has been mentioned and used by others on the forum with EPI dogs and i do remember people saying what a great result with it that they have had, but i forgot all about it........ so this time... i will give it a mention on the SID section.

again, THANKS everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Olesia, was owned by Izzy, a 35lb Spanish Water Dog (SWD), Diagnosed at 1.5 years old - TLI results 1.. Izzy passed away on February 13, 2020 at 15 years old. She lived with EPI for 13+1/2 years. It was because of Izzy that Epi4Dogs was started... she was the inspiration. May her legacy of helping others with EPI continue for as long as needed.........

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